


Trespassing

by sunflowers_on_fire



Category: Terminator (Movies), Terminator - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Modern AU, Useless Lesbians, sarah is the best (or worst) neighbour ever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:35:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23397106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunflowers_on_fire/pseuds/sunflowers_on_fire
Summary: Grace accidentally gets locked out of her own apartment so she decides to climb in through a random window that happens to be open. Only to find herself in a stranger's bedroom and have a very awkward encounter with a cute girl who thinks that they hooked up.
Relationships: Grace Harper & Dani Ramos, Grace Harper/Dani Ramos
Comments: 21
Kudos: 137





	Trespassing

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go, my first ever fic! I've been obsessed with these two ever since I first saw Dark Fate back in October so I just had to write something.   
> Also huge thanks to @DaniJayNel for all the writing advice and for helping me develop this idea!

The night was most certainly not going well for Grace. She went out for a couple of drinks, only to have her wallet and keys stolen by some asshole who ran off too fast for her to slam his head against the nearest wall. Now she was standing in front of the block of flats her apartment was in, wondering what to do. All her friends had already gone home, she had no phone with her and it was 1am, so it was unlikely that any of her neighbors would hear the doorbell. And if they did, they would either ignore it or hate her guts for waking them up in the middle of the night. She shuddered just thinking about how her neighbor next door would react if she woke her up at that hour.  
A solution, though unconventional and probably very stupid, offered itself as Grace spotted an open window on the first floor. 

It was a hot summer so that was nothing unusual, but Grace silently thanked the person who decided they needed some fresh air while sleeping. She just hoped that the door was unlocked as well and that she would be able to get in without anyone seeing her.However, desperate times called for desperate measures and she was in no position to be picky. It was either climbing through the window of a complete stranger or sleeping on the bench in the company of way too many mosquitos, and the former still appealed to her much more. Without thinking too much, Grace climbed the tree that was the closest to the open window and before she knew it, she found herself in someone’s apartment. In the bedroom of all places. Someone was sleeping in the bed and Grace was already starting to regret her decision.

She crept across the room, trying her best not to make a sound. Suddenly, Grace heard a noise as the person in the bed moved. She froze in place, holding her breath and hoping she didn’t wake them up. She waited another moment to make sure it was save to move. Just as her luck would have it, her next step made the floor creak loudly. The person shifted in their bed again, this time sitting up and rubbing their eyes. 

“Hello?” It sounded like a girl’s voice.

Grace cursed under her breath. Now she was really done for. How was she going to explain to a complete stranger that she essentially broke into her apartment because some asshole stole her keys? She probably looked suspicious as well. Her hair was a mess and she was wearing just a tank top and shorts, both now dirty and somewhat torn from climbing that tree. Grace wouldn’t have been surprised at all if the girl called the police right away.   
However, the girl did not panic. Not yet, at least. She was just staring at Grace in confusion, and Grace stared back, panicked. Her eyes were slowly adapting to the darkness and she was able to make out the outline of the girl. Long, curly hair. Probably about the same age as Grace. Probably very cute in daylight but Grace reminded herself that this was certainly not what she should be thinking about in such an awkward situation. In fact, she should probably just run away and dive out the window while she still had the chance. Instead, her brain decided to do something even less rational.

“Uh… Hi?”

Grace knew she was so going to regret that in the morning when she would most likely have to be explaining herself at the police station. The girl looked around, still confused. 

"So... I guess we must have tumbled into bed together, huh?"

Grace did not expect that response and it made her want to run away even more. Perhaps the girl calling the police would’ve still been less awkward than that. She tried take another step towards the door, but the girl interrupted her again. 

“Leaving so soon? What time is it anyway?” She sounded somewhat concerned.

Grace had no idea how to respond, so she tried to at least partially tell the truth. “Sorry for waking you up, I was just, uh, going home.”

“You can stay here,” the girl insisted, now suddenly much more awake. “I know this was supposed to be a one night stand and we were probably both pretty drunk, but you don’t have to run away in the middle of the night”.

Grace flushed all the way up to her ears. The whole situation was incredibly awkward, but she felt bad for the girl. For a moment she considered explaining why she was really in her room and telling her that it was all a misunderstanding, but that would involve telling a complete stranger that she had just climbed into her apartment and something was telling her this was not such a good idea. Besides, she had no keys anyway and she too tired and drunk to even attempt to make a more rational decision. All things considered, Grace felt that sleeping in a bed next to an unfamiliar girl who thought they had hooked up earlier that night still sounded better than sleeping on the floor in the hallway. 

“Okay, I’ll stay.” Grace said with more certainty than she intended. Even in the darkness, she could see the girl give her the brightest smile. 

“Awesome!” She patted the bed “Care to join me for a couple more hours?”

Grace awkwardly climbed into the bed, careful to leave enough room between them. She fell asleep almost immediately, only barely registering when the girl wrapped her arms around her. 

In the morning, Grace woke up alone. If it wasn’t for the fact that she was not in her own apartment, she would’ve been certain that the events of last night had been nothing but a weird dream. She made her way towards the door, still trying to wrap her head around what happened. One thing was certain, running into that girl again would be incredibly awkward. Luckily she wasn’t around so Grace was able to focus on getting out of her apartment as soon as possible and hopefully not running into anyone. 

As she was about to leave, she spotted a note and a plate of pancakes on the kitchen table. Grace didn’t think it was for her, but curiosity got the best of her so she picked up the note anyway. It made her equal parts embarrassed and happy. 

_Thank you for last night. I’m sorry I had to leave early, I start work at 8am and I didn’t have the heart to wake you up because you were so cute. Anyway, I left you some breakfast in case you’re hungry. I’m probably being too optimistic, but if you’d like to see me again, I’d definitely be up for it. Here’s my number, just in case._

There was a phone number scribbled at the bottom of the note. Grace pocketed the note without thinking and then sat down to eat the pancakes. Whoever this stranger was, she seemed incredibly sweet. Maybe running into her again wouldn’t be so bad. Just maybe. But if they did meet again, Grace would have a lot of explaining to do. She was certainly not looking forward to embarrassing herself even further and letting the girl know that she essentially broke into her apartment and that they never actually slept together.

Before Grace could get lost in thought, she felt something nudge her leg and heard a quiet whining noise. She looked down and saw a white dog staring at her, begging for food. 

“I’m not sure if you’re allowed to have this” she muttered, “but I guess you deserve it because you didn’t give me away yesterday.” She chuckled and gave him a piece of her pancake.

After finishing her food, Grace headed to the door. There was another note stuck on it.   
_Just one more thing: could you lock the door when you go and leave the key under the doormat? Thanks!  
\- Dani _

Dani, huh? Grace couldn’t help but think that even the girl’s name was incredibly cute. And if nothing else, at least knowing her name would hopefully make the whole situation at least a bit less embarrassing if they met again. 

Before leaving, Grace turned around one last time and noticed that the dog has followed her. She smiled, scratched him behind the ears, and then made her way back to her own apartment. She still had no keys, so she knocked on the door right next to her own. Her neighbor was Sarah, a rather rude and grumpy woman in her sixties. They got along quite well. That is, if getting along meant constant banter, sarcastic remarks and insulting each other for fun. Despite constantly butting heads because they were both stubborn and had strong personalities, Grace trusted Sarah. And even though Sarah would rather die than admit it, Grace knew that she had developed quite a soft spot for her over the years. 

Sarah opened the door almost immediately, rolling her eyes when she saw who was in front of it.

“Oh, you again.” 

“Yeah, me again,” Grace replied with an irritated smirk. “I know you’re absolutely delighted to see me, but I’m going to need my spare key first, if you don’t mind”. 

She had left one with Sarah in case of emergencies, and this certainly was one. Grace hoped she wouldn’t have to explain why she needed it, but she knew that was too optimistic. Sarah was one nosy pain in the ass. 

“Why do you need it?” Sarah asked. 

Grace sighed. She knew there was no going around this, so she begrudgingly told Sarah about the events of the last night. When she finished her story, Sarah was laughing to the point of tears. 

“Well, I’m glad at least someone is having fun with this, even though I would love nothing more than to punch that someone in the throat right now,” Grace said, half laughing, half meaning it. 

Sarah tossed her the keys, still grinning. “Here you go, kid. You might want to change into some nicer clothes before meeting your new girlfriend again.”

Grace fought the blush that was creeping up her face the best she could. She was not giving Sarah any more reasons to tease her. 

“Hey, at least I didn’t break into your apartment in the middle of the night. You better be grateful.”

“Yeah, yeah, thanks for not breaking in and killing me in my sleep.” Sarah scoffed. “Not like you would stand a chance anyway.”

Grace laughed. “You know, there’s always next time.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

Grace said goodbye to Sarah, tired of her but, strangely enough, in good mood. This was just what Sarah did every single time when they interacted; drove her up the wall but made her laugh at the same time. As soon as she was alone and back in her own apartment, her thoughts returned to Dani again. Nervous as she was about possibly meeting her again, a part of her hoped that they would run into each other soon. 

“Soon” came much quicker than she was ready. They ran into each other in front of their block of flats the very next day. Even though Grace had only seen Dani in the dark the night before, she recognized her instantly. She was even more beautiful in daylight, with sun catching in her dark brown hair, but Grace didn’t have the time to appreciate her. Her first instinct was to run away before they even greeted each other, so she did just that. She spent the next hour regretting it and planning how to approach Dani a bit less awkwardly next time. If there even was a next time. 

They met again a week later in the hallway. Grace almost ran away again, but Dani spoke to her before she had the chance to do so. Grace was equally panicked and relieved. 

“Uh, hi again! I know this is pretty awkward, but please don’t run away again”. The smile she gave her was hesitant, but Grace could have sworn that it was the most beautiful smile she’s ever seen. And it was not making things any easier.

“Hi…” Grace’s voice cracked a little and she looked at the ground, blushing uncontrollably and wondering if it was still a good time to run away. 

“I know you’re probably still embarrassed from what happened between us last week, but it’s really nice to see you again,” Dani continued. “Do you live here as well?” 

Grace was sure it was obvious just how nervous she was, but Dani remained surprisingly calm and patient. And nice. Suddenly her urge to turn around and run as fast as she could was almost gone. 

“Uh, yeah,” she replied, trying to keep the conversation going somehow although her knees were shaking. “Third floor. My, uh, work schedule changed a bit so… Um, I guess we’ll keep running into each other?” 

Dani smiled. “Yeah, I guess we will. If you don’t mind of course.”

“No, I don’t think I mind!” Grace laughed nervously. 

“So, see you around?” Dani asked, that impossibly cute smile still on her lips. Grace was pretty sure she could get used to meeting her. 

“Yeah, see you!” 

After they parted ways, Grace rushed to her apartment, grinning ear to ear. She finally talked to Dani somewhat normally. And most importantly, she did not run away. She only realized later that she never told Dani her name. But there was always next time, and Grace was now looking forward to it.

They kept running into each other, mostly when Grace was returning from work, but things were not going as well as Grace would have hoped. The more she saw Dani, the more awkward it got for Grace, even though she was always happy to see her, and Dani always greeted her with a smile as well. They always said hi, but they never talked much. Grace knew she would eventually have to tell Dani what actually happened back when she climbed through her window and clear up the misunderstanding. It felt like the right thing to do, but she was afraid how Dani would react. Grace had no people skills to begin with, but telling Dani the truth about that night was on a whole another level. Eventually, even telling Dani her name seemed almost impossible. 

One day when Grace was returning from work, a white dog ran up to her, wagging his tail excitedly. 

“Oh, hi there,” she said, scratching the dog behind his ears. “Where did you come from?”

The dog seemed strangely familiar to her, but she couldn’t quite remember where she has seen him. Before she could remember, she heard a voice she could recognize anywhere. 

“Taco! Where are you?”

“Don’t worry, he’s here!” Grace called. A moment later, Dani came running from around the corner. 

“H-hey,” Dani greeted her. Her cheeks were flushed red and Grace couldn’t tell if it was from running or not. “Sorry about him, he never takes off like this,” she continued, “I guess he must really like you”. 

Grace was a flustered mess, just like she was everytime they met, but petting Taco helped her relax somewhat. 

“Yeah, I might have given him some of my pancakes when I was at your place because he wouldn’t stop looking at me with those puppy eyes,” she admitted. “Just a little bit though, your cooking is amazing so I didn’t want to share.” 

Grace instantly regretted bringing up the time when she was in Dani’s apartment, but at least they were talking. This was already more than she had ever said to Dani since the first time they met after that awkward night.  
Dani chuckled, kneeling down next to her to pet Taco. 

“You’re spoiling him, just like my brother does. No wonder he likes you more than me.”

“Well, I hope I didn’t cause too much trouble,” Grace said. “Were you going somewhere?”

Dani smiled at her. “No worries, I’m not in a hurry at all. And even if I was, I wouldn’t mind running into you” Grace averted her eyes for a moment, hoping her blush wasn’t too obvious. “We were just going for a walk,” Dani told her, still petting Taco. “Would you like to join?”

“Yeah, I’d love to!” Grace responded before she would have the time to overthink and run away. She was still incredibly nervous, but she did not want to miss another chance with Dani. 

They walked towards the nearest park, mostly in silence apart from Dani calling her dog a few times. The lack of conversation didn’t bother Grace. After trying way too hard to start a conversation with her for weeks, she felt strangely comfortable just walking beside Dani and glancing at her here and there when she thought Dani wasn’t paying attention to her. Once they reached the park, Dani stopped for a moment to take a tennis ball from her backpack. Taco’s eyes lit up and he started barking enthusiastically. 

“I think someone is telling you to hurry up and throw it,” Grace said with a grin. 

Dani laughed, throwing the ball as far as she could. “Yeah, he’s always like this.”

Before Grace could continue the conversation, Taco was already back. Instead of going to Dani, he dropped the ball at Grace’s feet and nudged it towards her. 

“He really does like you a lot,” Dani said with a smile. 

Their eyes met and Grace would have probably kept staring at her if it wasn’t for Taco who started barking again because nobody was throwing the ball. Grace was almost grateful that he interrupted them before it got awkward. She picked up the ball and threw it across the park. She didn’t think much of it, but Dani was impressed.

“Wow, I could never throw it this far! ”

Grace scratched the back of her head. She hadn’t planned on showing off, but she had to admit that impressing Dani felt good. 

“I guess I was kinda into sports back in high school,” she said with a grin. 

Dani chuckled. “I should ask you to tag along more often. It takes me forever to even remotely tire him out.” Grace definitely liked the idea. 

They ended up sitting on the nearest bench and talking about all kinds of things. Now that she was no longer as uptight, Grace found herself enjoying Dani’s company even more. 

“By the way” Dani suddenly interrupted their casual conversation. “This is kind of embarrassing but… I don’t think I remember your name. You must’ve introduced yourself that night but I was pretty drunk so I forgot, I’m really sorry!”

“Oh… “Grace froze as the memory of their first encounter flashed before her eyes. She still hasn’t told Dani the truth and suddenly, she was more afraid than ever of what Dani would think of her once she found out. “It’s Grace,” she managed to say before anxiety could overwhelm her.

“Grace.” Dani repeated with a small smile. She seemed almost as nervous as Grace was. “It’s nice to meet you. Well, again, I guess? I’m Daniella. Just call me Dani. But I guess you already know that.”

“Yeah, I know. I remembered it from the note.” Grace forced a smile, hoping that Dani didn’t notice just how tense she was. Her thoughts were racing as she was trying to figure out how to tell Dani what she should have told her weeks ago. She must have spaced out for a few moments, but Dani’s next words made her snap out of it. 

“I know things have been kind of awkward between us since that night and I understand if you’re not really interested in me anymore,” Dani said. “But I had so much fun today and I really want to at least be your friend, if you’re okay with that.”

Grace was growing more and more anxious by the minute. She was struggling to form sentences, but the last thing she wanted Dani to think was that she didn’t want to spend more time with her.

“Sure, I’d love to be your friend! A-actually, I really like you. It’s just…” She trailed off, lost for words again. 

“What’s wrong?” Dani asked with apprehension.

“You know, there’s something I need to tell you.” Grace said, avoiding eye contact. Dani looked worried, as though she were getting ready to have her heart broken. Grace was already hating herself for saying what she was about to say, but she knew that it had to be done.

“We never actually slept together. My keys got stolen that day and I climbed through your window to get to my apartment because it was either that or sleeping on the street.”

Dani just stared at her for a few excruciatingly long seconds. Then she burst into laughter.

“Oh my god, are you serious?!” She couldn’t stop laughing and Grace soon joined her.

“So, you’re not mad?” Grace asked, relief washing over her.

“Who on earth would be mad if a gorgeous, tall blonde climbed through their window?” Dani chuckled. “Should’ve known it was too good to be true though,” she added, a bit more seriously. She almost sounded disappointed.

“Why?”

“I mean, realistically speaking, I probably wouldn’t ever have a chance with someone like you.” Dani said with a sad smile. “I’m just a plain nobody and you’re well… I hope it’s okay to say but… You’re like… Really hot.”

Grace blushed. “Nah, I’m just tall,” she responded with a sheepish grin. “But seriously, have you even seen yourself? I’ve had the biggest crush on you since I first saw you, but it was all just so awkward. And I had no idea how to tell you the truth. I was so afraid that you would want to have nothing to do with me if you knew what really happened.”

“And there I thought that you were always so nervous around me because you regretted sleeping with me or something and it was all too awkward for you!” Dani seemed much more at ease now.

Grace laughed. “What? No! I mean, if it did happen, why would I regret it?” She paused for a moment, wondering if she was being too direct, but she couldn’t resist asking. “I know we started off really awkwardly, but I like you. So if you’d be up for that, I would love to get to know you better. It doesn’t have to be anything serious, but if you’d like to give me a chance for real, I would take it in a heartbeat.”

Dani looked at her with a huge smile plastered on her face. “Are you seriously asking me to go out with you?”

Grace was flushing all the way up to her ears, but she was smiling regardless. She nodded.

Dani threw her arms around Grace. “Well, in that case, I’d love to!”

Grace hugged her back. “You sure?” She asked teasingly. “But you don’t even know what I’m like in bed.”

“You’re a nice person and I like you a lot so yes, I’m sure,” Dani said, her arm still around Grace’s shoulders. “And about that, I don’t think I’ll be too disappointed!”

“Hey, watch your tongue!” Grace warned her with mock annoyance, poking her in the ribs. 

“No, you watch it!” Dani shot back, ruffling Grace’s hair. 

“Man, you’re such a handful! Maybe I should just run away while I still can,” Grace complained playfully.

Dani stopped messing with her hair and snuggled closer to her. “Don’t you dare!”

Grace put her arm around her and grinned “No worries, you’re not getting rid of me that easily!”

ONE YEAR LATER

It was still early in the morning when Grace climbed the familiar tree to reach a certain open window. She technically wouldn’t have to do that since she has had the keys to that exact apartment for months now. Nonetheless, she had her reasons and this time it had nothing to do with having lost her keys. 

Climbing all the way up to the second floor with a bouquet of flowers in her hand proved to be even harder than she expected, but Grace knew it was all going to be worth it once she saw Dani’s reaction. She pulled herself up onto the windowsill of the apartment they now shared and, to her amusement, found out that Dani was still fast asleep, just like she hoped. 

“Hey, Dani!” she called, trying her hardest not to laugh. 

“Yeah?” Dani stirred in bed, slowly sitting up and rubbing her eyes. When she couldn’t find Grace beside her, she looked around the room. When their eyes met, Dani’s face was priceless and Grace had to hold onto the windowsill with both hands to keep herself from falling because she was laughing so hard.

“GRACE?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?” 

Grace needed some time to stop laughing before she was even able to speak. 

“The same thing as I did exactly a year ago,” she replied with a lopsided grin. “Seriously, you should keep the window closed if you don’t want people breaking in,” She hopped from the windowsill into the apartment and handed the flowers to Dani. “Anyway, happy anniversary!”

“You’re SUCH an idiot!” Dani facepalmed, but she couldn’t keep herself from laughing. She stepped closer to Grace to steal a quick kiss. “You’re lucky that you at least brought flowers and that I love you so much.”

“That I am,” Grace agreed, still proud of herself for pulling off her little stunt perfectly. 

“Seriously though, if you keep doing this each year, I swear I’ll bolt this window down!” Dani threatened jokingly.

“You know you don’t want to,” Grace teased. She definitely had fun annoying Dani whenever she had a chance, and she knew Dani secretly enjoyed it too.

“Actually, you know what… Maybe if I keep it open, someone else who isn’t such an asshole to me could climb in eventually,” Dani shot back with a grin.

Grace rushed to the window, slammed it shut and put a chair in front of it. “No! Nuh-uh. No way. I am NOT sharing you.” Grace kept repeating while shaking her head furiously. 

It was now Dani’s turn to burst out laughing. “I guess I win!” She said with a victorious smirk and wrapped her arms around Grace. “Since you’re already been so nice to close the window, how about you turn the blinds down as well? I think I have an idea of what I’d like to do this morning.”

Grace couldn’t help but tease her. “The same as you thought we did last year?” The remark earned her a punch in the shoulder. 

“You’ll never let me live this down, will you?” Dani rolled her eyes and laughed despite herself.

“Never!” 

Grace smiled to herself before joining Dani on the bed and leaning down to kiss her. Who would have thought that a stupid decision to climb thorough a random window in the middle of the night could make one’s life so much better?

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Comments are very much appreciated <3   
> You can find me on Tumblr as sunflowers-on-fire, my inbox is always open and I would love to talk to more people within the fandom so don't be afraid to say hi!


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